World’s Heaviest Fruit Cake

In Romania this week, a Guinness-approved record was set for the world’s heaviest cake. Normally, being “heavy” is not a real selling point for a cake. Cakes are expected to be light and tender. Even pound cakes, which are known for their tight, dense crumb, are still expected to on the light side. The one exception to this general rule is the fruit cake. These cakes are loaded with dried fruits, nuts and soaked in booze – usually rum or brandy – until they are moist, tender and very heavy. When they’re good, they’re good. When they’re bad… well, let’s just say that there is a reason fruitcakes are often depicted as brick-like objects.

The cake involved in the record was, of course, a fruit cake. It weighed in a 619-lbs and was generously decorated with whipped cream and more fruit. A huge crowd gathered to watch the ceremony and everyone was treated to a slice of the cake afterward. From the sound of it, despite the great weight of the huge cake, it was one of the good ones: sweet, boozy and rich-tasting.

In a fruitcake related side note, the competitive eating record for fruitcake is 4-lbs 14-oz eaten in 10 minutes. The record is held by Sonja Thomas, the most successful female competitive eater, and was set back in 2001.